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Mental Health > Sleep Disorders Forum > Hallucinations or ghosts?
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Q: Hallucinations or ghosts?
asked by: DoctorQuestion on March 25th, 2007
I have been experiencing very realistic hallucinations at night. They are rare (3 times 2 summers ago and again 2 nights ago) and sporadic. I will wake up (or at least I feel I have awoken), look around and think I see a person in my room. I see the person in great detail (like I would see someone any other time) and I can never locate an item that explains what I saw (i.e. the person was actually a blanket). In my most recent episode, I lifted my covers and thought I saw a young man crouthing at the foot of the bed staring at me. I immediately screamed and ran from the room. I have also seen a tall man, old woman and young child. Nothing in my room is ever "off" when this happens except of course that I see a strange person. I do get a scared at night but I feel no more stressed or scared than usual before I have them. Sometimes I even feel relaxed or content beforehand. I have had emotional trama but not recently. Even now they seem very real I usually have them early in the night.


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Dr. Nikola Gjuzelov , MD
replied on April 10th, 2007
Sleep Disorders Answer A2540
From the description, it is not clear if you were sleeping or were awake when you saw the images. If you were dreaming when you “saw” the images or persons, then there is nothing to be worried about: our dreams are reflections of our desires, fantasies and subconscious fears. But if you were awake during these experiences, conventional allopathic medicine considers the images to be hallucinations. In this tradition, hallucinations can be signs of serious mental diseases. You may consult a mental health expert for more help.


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